Various categories of vehicles are exempt from the charge, including emergency services vehicles, military vehicles and those exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty on the grounds of disability.
The charges vary according to the type of vehicle. Motorcycles are free but there are standard charges for cars, two-axle goods vehicles and larger vehicles with more than two axles.
Drivers who fail to pay the charge are issued with a penalty charge notice. There are no signs warning of penalty charges. On 1 March , this scheme was extended to include privately owned two-axle goods vehicles. Around 44, drivers take advantage of this scheme each year. The idea of a tunnel crossing was first proposed by the Ministry of Transport in Initial reports at the start of the year suggested a crossing between Tilbury and Gravesend , replacing a ferry service, but this had been rejected by July in favour of a route further upstream, near Dartford.
The tunnel was planned to be part of a general orbital route around London and was provisionally known as part of the "South Orbital Road". The first engineering work to take place was a compressed air driven pilot tunnel, which was drilled between and Work on the tunnel was delayed due to World War II, and resumed in , using a Greathead Shield, similar to the work on the Blackwall Tunnel some 60 years earlier.
The delay in work due to the war allowed the tunnel's design to be improved, which included a better ventilation system. After negotiations with the Ministry of Transport, Kent and Essex County Councils successfully levied a toll on the tunnel before it opened in The toll was originally two shillings and sixpence , equivalent to By , the toll for cars had risen to 60p. The first tunnel was expected to carry two million vehicles a year but by was carrying over eight million.
That year, Michael Heseltine , then a junior transport minister, announced that a second tunnel would be built in conjunction with the North Orbital Road, later to become the M Construction was approved in April , with an initial expected opening date in Work was delayed due to a lack of funds, which was resolved by EEC funding granted in The second tunnel opened in May , allowing each tunnel to handle one direction of traffic, by which time the joint capacity of the two tunnels had increased to 65, vehicles per day.
Connection of the crossing to the M25 was completed on the northerly Essex side in September Junction 31 , and to the southerly Kent side in September Junction 1a. Following the completion of the M25 in , the daily demand had grown to 79, vehicles. During the early s, it was anticipated that traffic through the tunnel would rise on the completion of the M25 in In , the Transport Minister, Lynda Chalker, announced that the number of toll booths would be increased to 12 each way, but concern grew that two tunnels would not be able to cope with the full demands of a completed M There's always been a toll to use the crossing.
The toll booths were removed in and replaced with a number plate recognition system. Motorbikes are free. The Dartford crossing has made it much easier for vehicles in the area to get across the Thames. The nearest alternatives to Dartford are the Blackwall tunnel about 8 miles west or the Woolwich ferry about 10 miles west.
High vehicles have even less choice than cars and small lorries. When the bridge is closed vehicles over 5m high are diverted round the M25 in the opposite direction. The Dartford crossing has made the movement of goods and people easier in the area and contributed to the local economy. Engineers started work on the west tunnel in but construction stopped with the outbreak of World War 2.
Digging restarted in with the project team using a tunneling shield to excavate the tunnel. A tunneling shield is a large circular steel frame with pockets. Each pocket had a man with a spade who dug out the earth in front of him. Work was delayed on the east tunnel through lack of money until when the European Economic Community now the EU provided cash for the project. The 2. The bridge's deck roadway hangs from 56 pairs of cables strung from the masts. In , the Government announced charging would be stopped by the end of In , however, the Government backtracked on this promise.
The cost of building the crossing was fully recovered in , but charges continued and were actually increased in The reason for charging still being in place is to do with traffic levels, the Government says. The Dartford Crossing was designed and built to carry , vehicles a day. Today, though, it sees as many as , vehicles a day, despite charging still being in place. The Government estimates that lifting charges would cause a 17 per cent spike in traffic levels on the crossing.
As such, there are currently no plans to make the crossing free. The Dartford Crossing is part of the M25 orbital motorway around London, although it predates the motorway by over 30 years.
The first tunnel under the River Thames which today is the most westerly bore was started in the s, but the outbreak of World War II postponed construction and it wasn't opened until By then, Essex and Kent County Councils had managed to successfully lobby the Ministry of Transport to establish a toll for using the crossing — this has remained in place ever since, although today it's referred to as a charge rather than a toll.
The second tunnel was announced in , but construction wasn't completed until , after funding from the EEC guaranteed its completion. When it was opened, the combined capacity of both tunnels was 65, vehicles per day. The M25 was linked to the Dartford Crossing in Essex in , with the Kent side joined up four years later, by which time 79, vehicles per day were using the two tunnels.
It took less time for the Queen Elizabeth II bridge to be constructed. Work was started in , and it opened in The bridge was built by a private consortium, and at one time the tolls from the crossing were supposed to be in place until the construction of the bridge had been paid for. But a Transport Act in changed the toll to a charge that could continue to be levied, and from users have been paying a crossing charge rather than a toll.
The last major update for the Dartford Crossing was the removal of the toll booths, which were located on the Kent side of the Thames. These were removed in in an effort to reduce congestion at peak hours. Complaints about the ANPR system have included allegations that it has incorrectly charged vehicles registered for a Dart Charge account, has not been able to read foreign number plates, and various errors within the accounts system. While the Dartford Crossing has been amalgamated into the M25, it's actually classified as the A, which means traffic that isn't permitted on motorways is allowed to use it.
Payments can also be made online up to a year before making the crossing. If you want to increase the amount of time you have to pay, you can enrol with a company called Dartsave.
Once registered, you have up to 21 days after crossing to make the payment. Every time you cross, Dartsave sends you an e-mail reminder to make the payment. If you think a penalty charge notice PCN is wrong, you may be able to make a Dart Charge appeal to an independent tribunal. You can make savings of up to a third compared to the standard Dartford Crossing charges by setting up a Dart Charge pre-payment account online.
To do this, visit the Dartford Crossing section of the gov. You should have received instructions on how to do this, but if you have any questions, call Dart Charge on The Dartford Crossing is operated by Highways England, a company owned by the government. When travelling, think about downloading one of these best rated sat-nav apps , or why not read our guide to the Waze smartphone navigation app.
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